| I've seen it work once, but it was hard over the long term: LIFX (smart light globes) [1], which was launched on Kickstarter in 2012 by people working from the same co-working space and accelerator I was involved with then (so I kinda had a backstage view on it). Products like that work if there's natural consumer appeal built into the product, that you can convey in a video that gets people excited imagining how much better their life would be. That's what motivates pre-purchasing and also sharing/virality. That's why the LIFX Kickstarter campaign worked. But even with the $1.3M crowdfunding, they needed a lot more funds from investors; the crowdfunding just helped with initial funding and to prove demand. Still, that company didn't turn out to be a big success. It was hard/slow to get the product into production and shipped to consumers – it took 2-3 years I think. Established lighting vendors like Phillips were quick to get competing products into major retail stores. Along the way the company seemed to have a lot of internal drama, and investors became disenchanted. The company was acquired in about 2019 [2], then that company went bust, then the LIFX assets were acquired again in 2022 [3]. So, from its early signs of huge potential success, it ends up being a cautionary tale and another case study that investors can look at as a reason not to invest in hardware startups. Another cautionary tale is the "Coolest Cooler" [4], which ended up in a lawsuit [5]. I heard someone mention that a factory they engaged in China held them to ransom (staff went "on strike" in the middle of production) but I don't know details beyond what's been reported. These cases demonstrate all the ways these kinds of projects can go wrong, and are much harder to turn around than a software project in which you can be building your product to maintain customer satisfaction and growth day-by-day. And even still, this approach only works for gimmicky consumer products, not B2B products that are more likely to work commercially in the long term. Edit: Also remember Pebble (watch) which was a huge Kickstarter hit and seemed like a successful company for a few years after that, then suddenly went bust. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/hollieslade/2013/12/11/eureka-h... [2] https://www.geekwire.com/2019/building-energy-monitoring-com... [3] https://www.techhive.com/article/827458/lifx-smart-light-bra... [4] https://www.reddit.com/r/shittykickstarters/comments/x4ovj6/... [5] https://www.reddit.com/r/shittykickstarters/comments/x4ovj6/... |
> Products like that work if there's natural consumer appeal built into the product,
I see customers as a wider pool than end consumers - they can also include businesses - quite a few large businesses also have investment arms.
For example you mentioned Philips - they have one - https://www.philips.com/a-w/about/innovation/philips-venture...
I guess the worry for startup's there is if you too close then they might 'steal' - however big companies are typically quite keen on upholding IP laws - they use their venture arms to spread their bets - partial stakes ( and inside knowledge ) on a whole array of startups.